The Way the Light Hits the Orchards
by Rivendell
Summary: Draco goes off to fight in a war that Ginny sees avoidable as she struggles to love on both sides of the war.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: So I'm back. Sorry about that this has been gnawing at me to write for sometime now so I hope you like it. I'm a Georgia girl and I think a lot of this story is Civil War influenced with the confidence on each side and such. You decide for yourself who's who. I hope you like it and review if you can!  
  
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"Ginny! Ginny, darling, we got the war!" Draco Malfoy ran towards her down the hall of their house leaving the door flung open behind him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her petite body to his. "Can you believe those damn fools would take us?" He asked in his drawl that she had grown to love so much.  
  
"Why, Draco, don't be pulling this one on me again. I can smell the whiskey on your breath." She said with a smile as she pushed her arms against his chest in an attempt to pull away from him.  
  
"I'll admit to the whiskey, but Old man Carson Leinhart told me himself the ministry has already got people moving. How can you state it more plainly, my dear?" He asked as his smile grew and he moved his arms to secure her in his arms.  
  
"Really?" She asked, as she moved her head to try and look him in the eyes. He noticed the sudden change of emotion in her voice and kissed her lightly on the forehead.  
  
"Don't worry, Ginny. I'm sure your mother is too overprotective to let her sons go off and fight." She didn't see the tiniest of smirks he held upon his face. Yes, secretly he would like to take a few blows with Ron, but he'd never admit out of love for Ginny.  
  
"Oh, so you don't think I'd be concerned for you?" She asked as she tried to maintain a steady voice as a thick tear rolled down her cheek.  
  
"We're cruel bastards, remember?" He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head. "We don't care about anything. Life is easier that way." He kissed her softly on both cheeks and picked her up off of the ground as he carried her into the kitchen. "Now what's for dinner, woman?"  
  
"Marie Tolshvesky brought over some vegetables from her garden and I've been cooking for you since this morning. But it isn't ready yet so go and get ready and I'll set the table."  
  
"Don't bother with the table; we'll eat outside. Tonight, we celebrate." He smiled at her and left the kitchen and walked towards the stairs.  
  
"When are you leaving?"  
  
He paused halfway up the staircase. "Whenever they tell me. Not to early and not to late, I suppose."  
  
She walked over to the door and closed it before walking into the kitchen to check on the squash casserole. She stared out the back window before while she waited for the water to turn hot to clean the mounds of dirty dishes that had accumulated over the day.  
  
She knew that her mother would try and restrain her brothers from going off to war, but what could she do with 6 young men all of whom were over 18? She knew her father would be proud of them to go off and fight; to go off and fight for peace and everything good. But her father was just like all the other men at the time that didn't realize what war really was. Both sides boasted they'd lick the other side in a month at the most.  
  
Ginny didn't really have a side by now. She'd married a deatheater. Some would assume that would automatically make her on the dark side. Yet, she'd been raised so fiercely to support the ministry and believe in the goodness of the wizarding world that she knew she could never accept herself on the dark side. But now after marrying Draco Malfoy, the rest of the wizarding world wouldn't take her.  
  
She'd befriended Draco during her 6th year and had fallen in love with him during her 7th. Her family blew it off at first; Ginny had never had a beau or much male attention for all they knew so it was sort of a "silly" infatuation that would fall apart in due course but explaining that to her brothers was a different matter. By the end of her 7th year, when heated conversations with her family were becoming normal she left home and became Mrs. Draco Malfoy after she eloped.  
  
She hadn't talked with her family since.  
  
She tapped her wand against one of the myriads of dirty dishes and mumbled a simple cleaning charm under her breath.  
  
She was happy with Draco and most of the time she felt he gave her more than she deserved but she knew underneath everything he could never replace all that she had lost. It was evident he was trying. She'd grown up in a cluttered environment full of comfort and confusion. She wanted land- and countless acres of it. Rolling green for miles and miles spread from the antebellum white brick house that he had bought for her. The kitchen window with the white lace curtains showed the garden in the back that she'd already begun planting various vegetables in. Further on were the rows of the orchard, planted so perfectly and straight. She always envisioned when the peaches and the apples would have the limbs of the trees hanging heavily as they yearned to be picked.  
  
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"Dinner was good, Gin." He set his plate down at the bottom of the steps on the back porch that looked over the garden. "I know I shouldn't have told you; you've been quiet all night." He sat back down beside her on the top step.  
  
"It's just- why do you have to go off and fight? We have everything we need right here. Why can't we just act oblivious to it all and go on like we are right now?" She lowered her head and stared at her half eaten plate. She swallowed hard as she felt a fresh coming of tears brim up.  
  
"Ginny, look up and tell me what you see in front of you."  
  
"Darkness."  
  
"Not quite."  
  
"The peach orchard."  
  
"And how does it look in the morning?"  
  
"The sky is streaked pink and yellow behind it and the grass is the greenest it has ever been."  
  
"That's partially why I'm fighting."  
  
"You're fighting for a fucking orchard? An orchard with sunshine?"  
  
"Would it really matter if I was?" He asked softly.  
  
"Here I am wondering if I'll ever see you again after you leave and you can't even tell me why you're fighting."  
  
"I'm fighting because it's what I've been born to do, Ginny. It's all I know."  
  
"No, it's not and if you weren't so stubborn you'd try to do something about it instead of being controlled like a-"  
  
"That's enough. We've already discussed this and I've made my decision."  
  
The silence broke suddenly when the levee broke and all the tears Ginny had been holding back since Draco told her the news came poring out. Draco put his arm over her shoulders.  
  
"Forget I ever told you about the war."  
  
"I want you to promise me one thing first."  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"If you happen to find one of my brothers, you won't hurt him. Promise me, Draco."  
  
"Scout's honor."  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Draco sat in the living room with a jigger of Tennessee's finest whisky in his hand as he watched his bride play the end of her favorite song on the piano. She closed the book with a snap and turned in her seat to face him.  
  
"You're awful handsome." She said as she gazed at him from across the room.  
  
"And you're not too bad yourself."  
  
"You do realize if this might be your last night here, we don't have much time left." She grinned evilly over at him and he replied with a smirk to quiet the devil. He set down his jigger and picked her up with ease from the piano stool. "Don't bother going upstairs, the kitchen table will do fine."  
  
"I knew I married you for some good reason." He replied with a smirk as he set her down on the table and loosened her hair from its band.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~ 


	2. Reality

A/N: I didn't want anyone to get the idea that when I'm writing this and completely leaving out how the two actually quit hating one another. And you'll have to forgive me if Draco seemed out of character last chapter, but it's good for the mind when you step out of the box. Right?  
  
Disclaimer: Yep, as usual I don't own anything.  
  
"If I leave her tomorrow, would you still remember me? For I must be traveling onward, cause there's too many places I've got to see. But if I stay here with you girl, things just couldn't be the same. I'm as free as a bird now. And this bird you cannot change.  
  
Bye, Bye, it's been a sweet love. Though this feeling I can't change. But please don't take it so badly. Cause Lord knows I'm to blame. But if I stayed here with you girl, things just couldn't be the same. Cause I'm as free as a bird now and this bird you cannot change. Lord knows I can't change. Lord help me, I can't change."  
  
-"Freebird" Lynard Synard  
  
Chapter 2: Reality  
  
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"Wandering around alone in the peach orchard at 5 in the morning isn't suspicious at all." He said as he walked down a row of ripe trees towards Ginny.  
  
"I was restless." She replied as she turned to face him. She sat on the wet ground and watched him as he lay down near her. She rested her head on his stomach. "I can't help thinking that this may be the last time I ever get to lay against you."  
  
"You know you can really put a damper on something good."  
  
"Wonder where I got that from."  
  
"I'm male. It's my job to be pessimistic."  
  
"That's your excuse when you piss on the toilet seat."  
  
"Better me than you." She laughed and her head moved with his stomach as he laughed with her.  
  
"The sun is starting to come up." She said as she stifled a yawn.  
  
"It usually does."  
  
"Draco Malfoy, don't you start acting smart with me."  
  
"And what would you do to me if I kept on?"  
  
"I'd cut out your tongue so you could never act smart with me again." She replied with an added giggle.  
  
"Sounds pretty bad."  
  
"How much do you like your tongue, Mr. Malfoy?"  
  
"How much would you miss it?" He asked with a smirk.  
  
"Too much." She answered sadly and turned her body onto her side.  
  
"We need to come out soon and pick the peaches." He knew he wouldn't be here long enough to pick any.  
  
"We should have." She sighed heavily.  
  
"Will you make me a cobbler with them?" He changed his tone as he asked her the question.  
  
"To eat by myself?" She choked on her tears and sat up as she started coughing.  
  
"Damn it, Ginny! Everything I've said you've turned into some sappy comment about me never coming back." He sat up and glared at her in the half-light of the sun. She was making him feel guilty about something that couldn't be changed by now.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry if I have any bit of concern for my husband.' She stood up and brushed grass from her cotton nightgown.  
  
"There's a difference between you being concerned and you trying to have a pity party about something that can't be helped. Besides you're beginning to make me feel like it's absolute that I'm going to die." He stood up beside her.  
  
"I'm having a pity party? You think I'm having a pity party? I'm sorry I'm not so happy that you're leaving me alone in a different country where I have to worry each day if my husbands or the rest of my uncaring family is still alive. Maybe you should have found a different wife!"  
  
Malfoy watched her walk away angrily, her thin, freckled arms swinging by her sides with her hands in fists.  
  
"Ginny, come on." He whispered to no one who could hear. "Damn it, Ginny!" He walked quickly as a small voice inside him was saying to let her go, but he walked quick enough paces to where he'd caught up with her before she'd reached the last row of trees.  
  
"Ginny, I didn't mean it that way." He said softly as he grabbed her wrist.  
  
"Let go of me!" She said angrily as she twisted her hand to get away from him.  
  
"Don't be mad at me, Ginny. You know you'll regret it." She paused and threw her hand down in a rapid movement. "I don't know what I meant by that. It's just I know this may be my last day with you but I don't want to waste it by repeatedly reminding myself of it. And come off it, where am I supposed to find myself a pretty wife like you?"  
  
He let go of the grip on her arm slowly and she moved to wrap her arms around his neck. She pressed her head against his chest. "I hate how you always win."  
  
"It's what you get for falling in love with a Malfoy."  
  
"I've never seen it look so beautiful out here. It's the way the light hits the orchards. Everything is so perfect out here; it's so untouched and pristine."  
  
"What would you do if it was gone?"  
  
"I haven't bothered to think about it much."  
  
"I'm fighting to keep it this way for you." He whispered into her ear.  
  
"Let's not talk about it any more."  
  
"We have to now." He replied, as he moved one of his arms to lift up his sleeve.  
  
"Why?" She asked as she unwrapped her hands and moved back from him.  
  
"My mark is burning."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ginny wrapped the thin, white armband around the black robes of Draco's upper arm. He told her it was a tradition with deatheaters to have their wives wraps a white band around their arm. Draco told her he'd seen his mother do it for his father once when he'd been small and his father had snuck off somewhere. Ginny had torn a piece of the bottom of her nightgown to make the band. The nightgown he'd told her was his favorite. She smiled up at him.  
  
"You've ruined my best nightgown."  
  
"I'll buy you a million more when I come home." He whispered to her as he handed her a small, silver pendant in the shape of a flying eagle. She smoothed her hand over it before pinning it to his robes.  
  
"What do you need that for?"  
  
"Just means I'm a lieutenant."  
  
"Lieutenant Malfoy."  
  
She saw him wince and felt a butterfly rise in her stomach.  
  
"Do you need to leave?" She asked quietly.  
  
"I should soon."  
  
"Do you want anything to eat first?"  
  
"No, Ginny, I'll be fine."  
  
She walked with him down the stairs and opened the door for him. He put his hand under her chin and smiled grimly.  
  
"Try not to brood over this for too long."  
  
"How can I not?" She asked looking up into his calm eyes with her panicked ones.  
  
"Find yourself a young Italian and tell him to make love to you all the time. I'm sure you'll become somewhat distracted from me." A smile cracked her lips.  
  
"Draco Malfoy, you are horrible."  
  
"I'm glad you don't agree with my suggestion." He bent down to kiss her lightly on the mouth.  
  
"I'll think about you all the time."  
  
"That can't be healthy."  
  
"I don't care anymore. I can't help it." He wrapped a red curl around his finger and stared at her.  
  
"Ginny, promise me you'll be ok. I'll worry about you everyday."  
  
"Why would you need to worry about me?"  
  
"Because if something happened to you I don't know what I'd do."  
  
"You'd find yourself an exotic woman and become a Colombian drug lord, most likely."  
  
"I was being serious for one of the few times in my life. I'll miss you more than you think I will." He lowered his head again and kissed her and she kissed him back trying not to think this would be the last time that she'd be near him for some long while. She sucked on the bottom of his lip but she pulled away quickly when she felt hot tears running down her pale cheeks. He kissed both of her cheeks and pulled himself away from her.  
  
"I wish you didn't have to leave me." She choked out as she watched her husband pull away from her. She moved her hands to cover her face.  
  
"If I had the choice I wouldn't do it." He whispered softly. He turned away and walked slowly down the steps and down the red clay path made through the dense grass. When he reached the road that was not far from the house he called out to her. "You'll remember about the orchard? When I come home, I expect some cobbler."  
  
She leaned against the doorframe and nodded her head as her breath came out in gasps. She felt like she was watching a disaster she couldn't do anything about. She watched Draco walk away, his blonde head so straight and proud as he walked to something new in his long black robes and the thin white band tied clumsily around his left arm.  
  
She watched him until he apparated and all there was left was the red clay road, the large oak trees shading the early risen sun, and the desperate gasps that continually escaped her sore throat.  
  
And across the road in front of the house was another orchard gleaming with the morning sun and bearing their fruits as the dew that settled during the night evaporated and left the field warm and untouched.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: Well, I'm trying to get things up quickly here while watching yet another football game. Pray for something more in a couple of days and a big thanks to Katie who was so surprised I'd come back from the dead to start another fic and B. Maude for my first review for this story! 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I haven't really gotten a response on this story but something makes me like writing it so I'm just going to continue. Katie's in this story because she's amazing and well enough said.  
  
Disclaimer: Nope, don't blame me. Oh yeah, and Katie owns herself. Well, unless she sold herself into slavery or something. I could see Katie as an Indian slave to a rich oil millionaire. Or more like Katie as an Indian concubine.  
  
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It had been four months since she had seen him. Four months since she had felt his warmth next to her during the night. Four months since she'd felt her head upon his chest. Four months since she'd heard his voice waking her out of her slumber in the morning. Too long since she'd heard him laugh or smirk. Too long since she'd heard him sigh and roll his eyes behind her back when she was being frustrating.  
  
She'd started picking the first orchard the day after he'd left and made a cobbler the same night. She had the strange feeling it would bring him back since he had requested it; but it didn't.  
  
He sent his first letter after he'd been gone for three days and she held it forever before reading. He reported nothing important just that he'd arrived safely and told her not to worry. He mentioned he wouldn't be able to write much but he would try. He had sent two other letters during the two months and each of them sounded alike with the information that he was safe, not to worry, and that he loved her. She noticed the letters sounded like he was holding something back. It had been a month without word from him.  
  
It was November now. She thought it funny how when she was younger November had always been her favorite month. The air was turning chilly and the colorful leaves had all fallen and blew lazily with the wind. She hated November now. The nights were getting colder and the wind made sounds during the night that she pretended she hadn't heard. The house was much too big now that she was alone.  
  
She would have liked to say that things were getting easier now that she'd been by herself for so long but she couldn't. She preoccupied herself with women's work but only so much laundry, cooking, and cleaning could be done in a day. She thought a lot about when she was at Hogwarts and she found herself thinking most of her 6th year when she became enthralled with a man named Draco Malfoy.  
  
Flashback:  
  
"Is he looking? Is he?" Ginny whispered sharply from the corner of her mouth. Suck in stomach, straight back, "Do I look like I give a care?" look on her face and every other action that made woman so attractive to man was playing inside her head.  
  
"No, but Malfoy is." Katie replied with a playful grin on her face. Ginny's face fell and she felt her shoulders begin to sag.  
  
"Why couldn't it have been the right person?" She asked as a frown came on to her face. Katie pushed a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear and patted Ginny on the back.  
  
"Don't worry about it. You've got enough time to seduce him in the common room." Ginny looked up and grinned before turning her head towards the Slytherin table and glanced at Malfoy. His silver eyes flashed and he kept her eye contact before she looked away.  
  
She walked Katie to the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room and left from there to go towards her common room. She had walked five minutes in silence before she heard a drawl behind her.  
  
"I bet you wore that for him." She turned around and saw Malfoy walking up behind her.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?"  
  
"And he didn't even notice."  
  
"Why so suddenly taking an interest in my life?"  
  
"No reason. Weasley, don't become obsessed with Potter. He's not going to notice you; he's too busy saving the world."  
  
"And what you want me to become obsessed with you?" She turned away and continued walking. She could tell he was smirking.  
  
"No, Weasley, I wouldn't pay attention to you either."  
  
"Am I that bad off?" She asked with a laugh.  
  
"No, Weasley, you've got potential. But everything else you stand for is a turnoff."  
  
"I can't believe I'm even listening to you. Good day, Malfoy."  
  
"You wore it for Potter, right?" He called out at she moved farther down the hall. She let out a heavy sigh and continued walking before Malfoy yelled out, "It looks nice."  
  
She felt herself blush and become totally repulsed at the same time. Malfoy. Everything she hated all in one person. She knew he did it just to spite her but she didn't want Malfoy looking at her. Ever. In her 16 years of life, he was the third most wretched person she knew. Katie always said it didn't help in hating him that he was so attractive, but Ginny could look over that. She started to walk faster towards the common room. Harry was probably there.  
  
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It was raining again. That's all it ever seemed to do now. It hadn't been a problem to him at first but know since the rains were continuous the ground was always a constant slop and you could never be dry. The tents fell down often and no one was ever happy. Well, not many would be happy even if it were not raining. He began to doubt the reason he didn't even have for coming here.  
  
He dreamed of home when the day was over and he was alone in his tent. He dreamed of the way it smelled and how nice it felt to be warm and have a full stomach. When he didn't think of home or Ginny his mind became filled with all of the things he had done recently. His mind was filled with screams and blood. With people he didn't know wanting mercy. He thought of his childhood and how wasted it had been. He thought of how many people must hate him now.  
  
He'd killed so many sons and fathers in the past four months that he knew he could never be forgiven. He'd killed so many people without thinking about it.  
  
He'd taken away so much life and for what? When all this was over would he find some reason or excuse that made him feel better?  
  
He tried to clear his mind and rolled over on his cot pulling his thin grey blanket with him. He'd worn the same clothes for so long now. He questioned himself on whether he'd gone insane yet. It would be better than this torture. The only way he knew how to make things better was to think of Ginny. To think of the things he would do when he got home and to think of things in the past.  
  
Flashback:  
  
"Malfoy, will you move? It's somewhat creepy for you to stand there and watch me read."  
  
"You're in my way, Weasley." He'd taken sport when he was bored to bother Weasley.  
  
She sighed and pushed her body against the bookcase to let him by. "You've could have gone another way."  
  
"I'm not going to go out of my way to avoid you."  
  
"Maybe you should." She said harshly, as she turned the page of her book and continued reading about polyatomic ions.  
  
He smirked. "Was that supposed to silence me?"  
  
"I was hoping."  
  
Malfoy grabbed a book from one of the lower shelves and turned to the index. "You might be getting better at being a wiseass."  
  
She paused in her reading and moved her finger off the page. "Was that a compliment?"  
  
"No, I don't give compliments."  
  
She sighed and shook her head slightly before returning her finger to the page. "What lose you place?" She blushed slightly. "I thought you were supposed to quit reading with your finger when you were 5?" He smirked. "Or is there an exception for Weasels?"  
  
She sighed again and shoved the book into her bag. "You're such an asshole, Malfoy."  
  
He watched her walk towards the exit in her fury. "Damn, you're pretty, Weasel." He yelled out when she reached the doors.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: I'm tired and not overly impressed with this chapter. Oh yeah, I broke my leg. I just thought it was information that I should share! Review if you can please. It means a lot! 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, how is everyone? I'm in deprivation... I can't dance so I shall write. I started reading Cold Mountain yesterday and it's really good so far and I've thought up a few ideas from reading. I'd recommend the book to anyone, especially people writing stories about lonely people and death. I'm going to quit droning on since I'm only sure two people are actually reading my worthless babble of a story. But thanks anyway, it means a lot!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything... and if it sucks blame the musicians for the reel music I'm listening to.  
  
Chapter 4: The Chapter that doesn't have time for a title (If I was serious about my writing do you think more people would read it?)  
  
"Do you recall the night before Christmas four years ago when I took you in my lap in the kitchen by the stove and you told me forever you would like to sit there and rest your head on my shoulder? Now it is a bitter surety in my heart that if you knew what I had seen and done, it would make you fear to do such again."  
-Charles Frazier  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The bodies of the family lay on their lawn's ryegrass. If there weren't 4 bodies, two being particularly small, lying on the yard he might have commented to himself on how well groomed the yard was. But the presence of the bodies tore his attention away, as he tried to act impassive about the acts he had just committed.  
  
The father, a man named Shawn, was known to be a high-ranked Ministry official and according to a fellow deatheater had been giving their side bushels of trouble since he's been promoted.  
  
He had tortured him to death. His wife and his two children all lay beside one another as they had tried in their own ways to defend their husband/ father, but he'd killed them all.  
  
He stood there, hands swaying slightly beside him, watching the face of the youngest child. When she had fallen her head had turned to the side and Draco gazed at her girlish profile. Her tangled, golden hair was strewn across the grass and her small pink lips were opened slightly like the mouth of a porcelain doll. Her lacy, white nightgown would stay warm as her body slowly became lifeless and cold.  
  
He felt his body slowly walking towards her small frame and his hand reached out and grabbed her tiny wrist. He turned her body over onto her back to see the rest of her face and drew back in horror. The front of her nightgown was soaked in her blood. He leaned in and looked at the wound that hadn't been there before. The wound was the size of his fist and slightly below her heart. He stared at it, wondering how it had originated if he had killed her with a curse before he jumped back in terror. A single grey worm had slowly started to slither out of the hole. He backed away quickly when the girl's eyes blinked slowly and then rapidly. She pulled her head up and stared into his eyes with her own glazed ones. She opened her mouth and whispered his name.  
  
He woke up in a cold sweat.  
  
He'd dreamt about the man so frequently that he worried for his sleep. He had tortured Shawn to death 3 weeks ago in a basement in downtown London. As he had been dying, he had called out the name of his wife following by the names of his two children. He'd never seen Shawn's family but assumed they hated just like every other family who'd had a loved one killed by him.  
  
He looked back and realized how inhumane he was. How controlled he seemed, like some sort of machine. He'd become used to what he had been called to do. He tried to do his job as professionally as he could.  
  
He sat up and sighed heavily before dropping down his head into his pillow. All he could hear was the heavy breathing of near by deatheaters and the shaking papers that he'd placed under his dead candle.  
  
He knew he wouldn't fall asleep again. These were the time when he couldn't escape thinking of all the terrible things he'd done. All the things Ginny or anyone else could forgive him for.  
  
His soul was broken and stained in the blood of others.  
  
How would he ever be able to forget what he'd done? He could never go back to the way he used to be. He had started to hope he would die before long just to keep from waking in the night. He couldn't look in the mirrors anymore.  
  
There were so many things he wished he had never seen.  
  
He kept thinking back to the conversation he had the night before he left Ginny. He asked her if she'd want to have children soon. She smiled and kissed him on the forehead.  
  
How could he ever raise a child now? How could he ever tell a kid it was wrong to do something when he would be a hypocrite? He could never forgive himself.  
  
He swung his feet over the side of his cot and threw on his cloak. He had to get out of here... even if it would only be for a while.  
  
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"Ginny. Ginny, wake up. Ginny." She kept her eyes closed as she faintly heard someone calling her name. It had to be a dream and only because she was in such a large house... alone. Or she was supposed to be alone. She kept her eyes closed and settled her panic by believing it was the wind.  
  
Then something touched her arm.  
  
She opened her eyes suddenly, scared of what she would find in front of her. It was Draco.  
  
She stared. She inhaled his scent; the same scent she hadn't smelt in forever. She took in the way his face had changed. His grey eyes were exhausted and full of worry and stubble had grown around his newly tanned face. His body was straight and still muscular but something about the way he stood beside her bed staring down at her told her how much he'd gone through. She had locked eyes with the man she hadn't seen in over half a year now.  
  
All the times she'd done the housework or picked the peaches from the orchard, she'd imagined her conversations with him when she got home. She imagined asking him how his day was and what he was thinking when he stared off in space after dinner. She imagined reminding him how handsome he was and always getting the same smirk in reply. She imagined how dramatic it would be when he came home and she saw him again. She'd imagined so much to say to him when she saw him again. But now she couldn't remember any of it.  
  
"Hey." She whispered quietly up at him.  
  
"Hey." He replied as he bent down and picked her up off her bed. He sat down along the side of the bed and held her in his arms.  
  
She felt the warmth of his body next to her and she remembered all the nights she'd cried because she'd been so cold. Of all the times she'd cried herself to sleep because she was so scared for him and had no idea if he was still alive.  
  
She synchronized their breathing as her head moved up and down with his chest. She could faintly hear the beating of his heart as she wrapped her arms tighter around her neck.  
  
"All the peaches are dead." She whispered.  
  
"That's alright. I'm not all that into cobbler anyways."  
  
"I would have made you one if you'd been home sooner."  
  
"I should have come home sooner." He sighed and her head rose up with his chest.  
  
"It doesn't matter. You're here now." They were silent for a while. "How long can you stay here?"  
  
"I can't stay long."  
  
"I've missed you."  
  
"I'd hope so. You haven't had any Italian men over, have you?"  
  
"Only one." She lied with a smile on her face. She buried her face into his chest.  
  
"Have you heard anything from your family since I've been gone?"  
  
"No, it's obvious they don't care."  
  
"When I was little, I used to wish I never had parents so I could always do what I want. Never answer to anyone but myself, but I realized it's worse when they act like you don't exist."  
  
"Yeah." Ginny replied weakly. Draco wrapped his arms tighter around her. "It's probably better they don't talk to me anymore."  
  
Draco smirked. "That's the spirit; you're on your way to becoming somewhat of a rebel." She laughed.  
  
"I haven't laughed in a long time."  
  
"Neither have I." He laid back on the bed and she leaned in beside him. "I've missed looking at you." He said before kissing her.  
  
"I'll get you some pictures of me to look at."  
  
"It wouldn't be the same."  
  
"Even the ones from our honeymoon?"  
  
"You actually have those?" She giggled and leaned back against him.  
  
"We could make some." He smirked and kissed her again. "I haven't told you I love you in a while."  
  
"I haven't either." He began kissing her neck.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Is the war almost over?" His lips ceased their movement and she felt his breath on her neck.  
  
"Not even close."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: Just tell me if you liked or not in a review. Please? If the end sucks, blame Pink Floyd because that's what I was listening too. Thanks to my reviewers and answer to the question that so many people have asked: Yes, I do plan on finishing my other story... it's just I'm drawn to writing this one for the moment. 


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